MEET THE MAKER – PART 4

This is Part 4 of the Meet The Maker series!
To learn more and see Part 1, please click here.
Links to all other parts of this series can be found at the bottom of this post.

DAY 19 | DREAM MASH UP: I used to make custom cakes and I think it’d be so fun—and messy—to have my lettering and cake worlds collide! My favorite part about making cakes was the decorating and I think it’d be pretty yummy to letter with frosting or paint with food coloring! Might be something I’ll have to try in the near future! (Top left is a cake I made for my friend’s husband of his tattoo and bottom right is an Up inspired cake—one of my favorite movies!)

DAY 20 | DESIGN PROCESS: Here’s a little bit more on how I created this card!⁣
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* I had been wanting to add more teacher appreciation cards to my line. I thought this phrase would be perfect to gift with plants or flowers! (Anytime I get an idea I jot it down in Evernote!) ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣* I start off every card design with quick thumbnail sketches to figure out the layout and finalize which words will be lettered and which will be printed. Sometimes I know exactly what I want but other times it takes a lot more to get the configuration right!⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣* Next, I get busy lettering! I usually do this on scrap paper with pencil until I am happy with it—if I get lucky I like what I letter in a few tries but normally I’ll do at least 15 or more versions before picking one! Then I go over it with a brush pen.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣* After that, I take a picture of it, email it to myself, and use Photoshop to clean it up and Illustrator to vectorize it.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣* Once it’s in vector form, I’ll go in and adjust as many of those little dots as I need to! It’s time consuming and can get tedious but I think this creates a really clean finished product!⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣* With the lettering done, I’ll size it and combine it with the print and layout the card in Illustrator and add the blurb for the back—and it’s done! ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣* The last part is to print, cut, pair it with an envelope, take photos, and share it with the world! ⁣

DAY 21 | THROWBACK: Some of the first cards for a cause I ever listed on Etsy were these stamped and stitched cards! They were truly a labor of love—each was hand stamped and hand stitched and I eventually phased them out because they were time consuming to create and I was focusing more on being able to mass produce. But as I’ve learned more about what I want from Atiliay and what kind of business I want to be, I’ve realized how much I love these cards and really miss making them…so I’ve decided to bring them back! I’ll be giving the designs a little update and will produce them in limited quantity batches throughout the year. Stay tuned or if you’re on my mailing list, you’ll be the first to know!

DAY 22 | PROUD OF: I am proud of myself for doing this (Atiliay) and I am proud of the people I know and follow here on IG who have shared their work—even if they are scared that it’s not good enough, started or are starting their biz or Etsy shop, are trying a new hobby, or are doing whatever it may be that they feel in their heart they should do without letting fear, circumstances, or negative vibes from others get in the way! I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for taking that leap and starting, for the small wins, for the big accomplishments, and for everything in between. Let’s do that today!

DAY 23 | TOP TIP OR ADVICE: If I could go back and tell myself something when I first started, it’d be to focus on what’s pushing my goals, dreams, and biz forward and these numbers $$ rather than focusing on social media vanity numbers. Sure, it might look great to have 1000s of followers but that doesn’t automatically mean your business is successful and on the flip side you can have 100 followers and be killing it! I think it’s more important to prioritize your limited time and when it comes to social media to ignore the numbers and keep showing up and connecting with the people who are already there supporting you!

DAY 24 | CUSTOMERS/FEEDBACK: I am SO appreciative of every customer who has taken the time to leave a review, write an email, or my favorite–send me pics of the products they purchased next to human and furbabies! (“Grand dog”?? These are def my people!) It seriously makes my day to know that something I created has made someone happy or helped to express love and gratitude. It is also really special when people share that they connect with the cause and giving back! These are the reasons why I love doing what I do and makes all the late nights and tough times worth it!

All work featured on Atiliay is copyright Olivia Lin and created by me unless otherwise noted. Feel free to use any of the photos or excerpts from this blog but please give proper credit and link back accordingly. It'd also be great if you'd email me and let me know what you've shared, I'd love to meet you, say thanks, and check out your space!

ABOUT ATILIAY

Atiliay is a line of paper goods specializing in hand lettered greeting cards for all occasions. With our products, Atiliay hopes to help each customer send love to the special people in their lives as well as those in need around the world. Each item is paired with a non-profit and a portion of proceeds is donated with every purchase. Atiliay’s goal is to make a lasting and meaningful impact through creativity and compassion.